The Ultimate Price
by KokoroNohii
Summary: A one-shot fan ending for Ulquiorra and Orihime. *Warning! Contains spoilers!*


**Disclaimer - I don't own Bleach. It belongs to Tite Kubo!**

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_"Enough for me: with joy I see_

_The different doom our fates assign._

_Be thine despair and sceptered care;_

_To triumph, and to die are mine"_

_- Thomas Gray_

It was over.

The horrific battle of despair between two monsters that had torn apart the roof of Las Noches had finally ended.

Inoue Orihime had watched in sheer terror as Ichigo and Ulquiorra had fought, her silvery blue eyes wide, her shaking hands clasped to her chest.

She should have been relieved when Hollow Ichigo struck that finishing blow, blasting Ulquiorra halfway to hell. But somehow, the terror hadn't faded. Was it because she knew that this monster standing before her was not really Ichigo? Perhaps. Ishida knew as much, and he'd tried to stop the creature from further atrocities. Unsuccessfully, as it turned out.

Or was it perhaps because Ulquiorra was dead? That was a thought she did not want to face, ever. Their time together had been fraught with tension. With pain, fear, and utter distress. He had kidnapped her, threatened to kill her friends, forced her to obey Aizen, and almost broken her very spirit. But Orihime couldn't deny that the terror she'd felt earlier when Ulquiorra had blasted a hole through Ichigo's chest and left him to die had now fixated itself on the Fourth Espada instead.

But he wasn't dead, it seemed. Not yet.

Now she rose from her knees amongst the dust and rubble of the battlefield, her heart pounding as she watched her tormentor turning to dust right before her eyes.  
He was speaking, his expression almost woeful as his green orbs gazed into hers.

**"Right as I was finally growing interested in you humans..."**

Orihime blinked at him, her lips parting as she drew in a small breath of surprise.

**"Do I scare you, woman?"** He murmured, raising his hand. His pale fingers outstretched, reaching for her. Orihime felt her heart break. Shatter into a million tiny pieces inside her chest. He'd finally understood what she had been trying to tell him this whole time, right at the very end. How could this happen? They'd all been through so much, and yet they'd all managed to get through it alive. Ichigo had battled his hollow side to the extreme, Orihime had almost lost her herself to fear...But they'd won. And they were alive. Ulquiorra had finally won his struggle to understand the human heart...but for it he would pay the ultimate price. Orihime felt tears well up in her eyes.

**"I'm not scared."** She said, her voice almost cracking as she tried not to sob. **"I'm not...scared."**

There was a long silence.

**"I see..."** He replied softly, slowly lowering his arm.

Of course she wasn't scared of him. How could she be? Much like the dying man before her, Orihime had realised something aswell. Something she'd never imagined could happen.

She reached for him desperately, only to find her fingers closing on air. Or rather, ash. He was crumbling within her touch. Her heart skipped a beat.

**"No!"** She breathed, sapphire eyes widening. She threw herself forwards, closing the distance between their two bodies in one sudden moment. Her hands cupped his face as her lips captured his in a passionate, impulsive kiss. Tears streamed silently from her closed eyelids, wetting his cheeks as well as hers. **"No...you can't die...I love you..."** She choked, breaking the kiss and looking up at him, sorrow in every corner of her expression.

She could see his shock clearly. His once cold and unreadable face was a mix of emotions as he stared at her, his mouth partly opened in surprise.

**"Woman...I..."** He whispered. And then, **"...Orihime."**

She smiled at him, her chest rising and falling in little gasps as she tried not to completely break down, her eyes shining.

**"You finally said my name."**

He was half gone now, his entire right arm and part of his right torso and shoulder disintegrated. His other arm reached up to wipe away a stray tear from her cheek. She closed her eyes, feeling her whole body tingle at his touch. It seemed only to last for the shortest of seconds.

**"Thankyou..."** Ulquiorra breathed, his voice fading into the wind.

And when Orihime opened her eyes, the love of her life, the Fourth Espada Ulquiorra Schiffer, was no longer there...

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